Greetings everyone! The Pest here, I'm thrilled to be able to write articles now! I'll be posting new and old deck ideas to highlight some of the underrated, overlooked, or (potentially) meta defining builds from the ancients to the modern!
To start off this series, I thought I'd cover the contender I'm the most excited to play upon release: Gearwin, Steampunk Engineer!
Contender Breakdown
First of all, we should go over what she does before we get into the main deck.
Gearwin is a red Savior with twenty health, a 0/1, and a rogue. her first ability reads: "Once per turn, when you diminish one or more cards, you may have your contender lose one health. If you do, put one of the cards you diminished into your hand." Much like one of my other favorite contenders, Paul, Gearwin's first ability is a build around all by itself! Being able to diminish yourself and save one card makes her a very strong toolbox deck with paths into tempo and hard control. All only for the cost of one health, and being an 0/1 contender, she can absorb plenty of wide tiny boards and not suffer a penalty.
Then we get to her second ability which is active at twelve health: "Counter - Attack: Engage: Diminish up to three cards. this gets +0/+X until the end of the clash where X is the number of cards diminished this way. If you Discover one of those cards, it lasts until the end of the turn instead. This counts as activating a Trap."
I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that ability for the first time. She can become a 0/4 for the turn if I Diminish three and discover a card?!? What a massive tempo play. However, you must be wondering "why does it specify that this ability count as activating a trap? what use is that?" Then we read her clash buff: Engineered Execution. For one red, "target card gets +1/+1 and Restore 1 until the end of turn. If you resolved a non-Ambush Trap this turn, draw two cards and that card gets +2/+2 instead."
Now you start to see how much of a wall Gearwin can become the later on in the game! that twelve health ability now turns into a mini game for both players. The opponent attacking Gearwin has to wonder "how much will they diminish? will any of them have Discover? what about open resources or traps laid out on the field?" Gearwin can make for some exciting end game scenarios that are sure to be blood pumping for both players!
Deck Tech
After I read Gearwin my mind went to Black Red immediately! specifically one card in particular drew me to Black: Bombardment! For one black resource as a basic action, you can diminish up to three cards and deal damage to a clash card equal to the number of cards diminished. So, if you are going second and your opponent played a clash card, you can remove it as long as it has three or less defense, choose one of the cards diminished and return it to hand at the cost of one life. This line of play makes Bombardment a removal spell and card draw, two exceptionally strong plays in one for your first turn. alternatively, if you are going first you can play either Iron Piston, Steam Powered, a one cost 2/1 with (Trigger - Defeat: Diminish one card) to set up as a blocker or to push the aggression your following turn and potentially draw a card if the diminished card is what you're looking for. Or, you can play the ever powerful, Torque, the Uncontrollable. Allowing your contender to soak up the damage with its defense and still be at full health.
My build prioritizes big, scary, late game answers to close the game, and early removal and health regeneration to live to the end game to close it out. Torque plus BOOM is a classic finisher, as well as Flare, Solar Force and Machina, Unstoppable Force can quickly close out a game if left unchecked. Now, with all the diminishing you'll be doing, there is a chance your deck can start to run low, which is why I recommend two copies of Death's Crown to cycle back some cards into your deck as well as getting to shuffle. Especially if this decks unrivaled card: War, the Second Horseman is removed or diminished after you've already used Gearwin's once per turn effect. Additionally, to take full advantage of Engineered Execution, I run a small set of cheap traps to activate when Gearwin hasn't reached her threshold or you are waiting to use her counter attack for a future attack that turn. I recommend 4x Piercing Darkness and 3x Rally Forces. With the amount of diminishing you'll be doing, you'll find them quite frequently and be able to hold on to them for future use.
That's all I've got for you for this build! I'll have my deck list linked below for you to view, copy, or make your own modifications to the build as more cards get spoiled!
Happy Clashing!
Written by The Pest
https://www.deckplanet.net/alpha_clash/deck/f49c6b14-4fd2-4b6f-9b99-799b60ee9c65